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To kick off our Teaching a Toddler series we did a Zoo theme through July. Although we don’t stick seriously to it, our days all have a pretty similar routine and these activities fit into our afternoon after a nap. … Continue reading →

Ok I know, I know, I am very late in creating this post! In fact so late that I think we are only a few days away from him turning 10 months… whoops.

Anyhoooooo, so our little munchkin is growing up. A whole 9 months have just flown by since this treasure joined our little family. The best part about having him around is that I can with all honesty in my heart say that I love him more today than I did when we first met (as if that could be possible) and I just adore spending time with him.
I think I might be one of those ‘weird’ moms who doesn’t want anyone to babysit and sees no reason what so ever to escape from my kid even for an hour or 2. Hubby and I have this arrangement that he gets Billy all to himself at least once a week and I get to go do shopping or errands etc. and as much as I sometimes look forward to it, the second I walk out the door all I want to do is run back inside, scoop him up and take him with me.

But enough about me, Mr B is growing in leaps and bounds, although still no crawling or walking yet, he is meeting other developmental milestones quite well. In fact I was incredibly worried about his lack of movement (especially compared to other babies his age) but the more research I did and the more I spoke to other mommy’s and our doctor, the more I can see that 9 months and only just starting the crawling/walking stage was actually the norm in the past and it seems in this day and age of pushing our children to achieve and trying to make sure they hit their next hurdle/milestone we are actually making most of those milestones earlier than they used to be…. although if your baby is already doing those things I’m not saying that there is something wrong with that.
What he is lacking in gross motor skills he is making up for in other ways. Be it as simple as calling me (with a very cute mumma) to come get him when he wakes up, to using his fine motor skills to pick up a blueberry with his thumb and forefinger or point to stuff when you ask (although this may not happen all the time, it really depends on his mood). He even knows that a cow says moo and can give me a “high 5”.
We’ve been on some fun adventures together like getting a zoo pass and walking around looking at all the animals, taking a road trip down to Ulludulla, quite a few picnics in the park and of course lots of playdates.

He is also starting to enjoy more experiences like munching into some juicy watermelon on a hot day, moving from his little bath to a big bath and having his first shared bath with his beautiful cousins, realizing he is at a birthday party (the last one we went to he pretty much slept all the way through it) and of course lots of Christmas fun (which I will try blog about separately).

But man he is a cutie and is starting to show us his wonderful little personality traits. He is cheeky and shakes his head for no when we ask him to stop doing something, if he can help us pack away his toys or if he wants to go to bed. And of course a smile that will melt anyone’s heart. As much bragging as I can do about this kid, we do still have our odd bad day and I know just how lucky I am to be able to say that it is a rare occasion to have any tantrums or screaming and crying in our home.

In fact I think that the most growing and changing to happen in our home is with me! Even before I had kids I thought I knew exactly what I was or would be doing. I’d see a screaming toddler in a shop and immediately think to myself “oh no poor kid, its clearly the parents fault”. Now I want to walk up to all mothers and give them a big hug and just tell them it’s going to be ok… well maybe not all mothers, but I am definitely not little miss judgmental anymore and have opened myself up to so many more ideas, methods and journeys. I had this great idea about what I would do if I was in a certain situation or what was good for my future child, I would look at other parents and think wow you really know how to discipline your kid. Now that our son has arrived I’ve come to realize that this little person in my arms has a personality all his own, a future only he can choose, a life only he can live and I have no control and shouldn’t want any control over that. My job as his mommy right now is to love the heck out of him and be his home and his safe place. If he is having a tough time facing something, if he doesn’t want to do something, even if he doesn’t want to go to someone else and only wants me, I need to respect his individual self and treat him like I would any other human being who would come to me in need. Most people can tell me I am babying him but as far as I can see he is still a baby and needs me to do exactly that, as he gets older I’m sure I will have to change the way I approach certain situations but for now all he needs from us is patience and love (oh an food of course)!